Waiting in line for characters

[WayTooExcited]

Hi, me again.

Quick question about Disney etiquette (please don't flame me). When waiting in line to meet a character, what are the feels on one person waiting and when it's almost time for them to meet the character, the family getting in line with the person. I'm talking a family of four, not a family of twenty.

To me, it would seem like this is a bad thing to do. But I don't know if it's a common practice or if people get booed and hissed at.

Thank you for your help. Again, please don't flame me.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We are a family of 3 and we stick together as much as possible, BUT DD5 had to use the bathroom in Epcot before Mulan came out. I waited in line while DH brought her to the family bathroom. I think for characters it is ok, but it drove me bonkers to see a bunch of people doing it for big rope drop lines such as Soarin.

Just my .02

 

[Berlioz70]

One family, one set of pictures, do it! I have a 2 year old who has more energy than a line can handle so DH stays in line and we join last minute. Whether we wait or not, our time with the characters is unchanged.

I think the concern is more with 1 person waiting then a family joining and getting lots of solo photos. Solo photos and multiple autograph books is what elongates time with a character.

For reference... I've met well over 500 characters with DD2, never once been hissed for joining at the last minute.

 

[jawa7400]

I think the majority of other people in line have (or used to have) small children and understand. It might bother me a little more if it was a family with teenagers, but like PP said if it's one family set of pics the line moves the same.

 

[Oswin]

It really depends on when you go. I've found people to be much more tolerant of this in the fall, winter, and spring than they are in the summer. The hotter and busier the line is, the more likely someone will speak up. You should see if your family can make the wait with you and if they can't, there's no harm in taking them out of line and having them join you later on. You will see it happen so it's not rare, but it's not common practice to do either.

 

[msmama]

I've had CMs tell me to stand in line and send my son to a shady spot. And when he was little a CM came over to tell me a good spot to watch ducks nearby while waiting.

I don't think if send family to do other things while one person waits but I also don't think everyone has to stand in the same spot either. Just know that especially for inside lines it gets harder (and more annoying for others) to have others join.

 

[IrishNYC]

I don't care for it. It's one thing if a little one has to go potty, but I don't care for the whole sending one person ahead so that everyone else in your party has to push through at the last minute. What about all the other little ones on line that waited there? What if every family put one person on line and now all those families are pushing through at the last minute?

 

[Mikie]

I don't know that there's much logic to my feelings on it, but I don't mind at all if the whole family gets in line and then decides part needs to step out (too antsy, potty break) yet I would be a little bothered if one person got in line and family never joined til the last minute. I'd never say anything or hiss! family of 4 where 3 join up is one thing. Family of 12+ would bug the heck out of me.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I like to meet characters a lot. If there is one person ahead of me who is joined by their family and everyone takes a picture together, you will have no problems with me or probably anyone else. Now, if your family meets up with you and suddenly the kids take pictures by themselves, then each kid separate, then mom wants selfies, then I will most likely be giving you the stink eye.

I was once second in line for Rapunzel and Flynn and Cinderella and Charming at a MVMCP. There was only one girl ahead of me for most of the wait, then 5 minutes before we would have met them she has, and I kid you not, 7 friends come join her. Then they end up inviting the couple behind me to cut ahead of my group and join them. I think the girl had a popular Disney blog and the girl behind me was gushing over her. Of course, this is a group where each couple needs pictures and selfies and whatever with each character, then they all had solos and it was the most epically annoying thing ever.

So I guess what I'm saying is if you all have a couple group pictures most people will not care if you join up after the wait is almost over.

 

[HopperFan]

Once was there for situation where mom stood in line. Without a long story veteran cast member asked her to get out of the line, told her she must wait for her entire party before entering the line. His rationale made sense. She got really ugly and said some awful things to him quietly but I was right there so heard. She went running for manager. Once done our meet I followed because she clearly was intending to start trouble. I spoke to a supervisor type who asked me to wait for manager. Sure enough she was demanding he be fired without sharing the whole story. Manager verified that the entire party was to enter the line together. Since, I made sure we were all there.

 

[wilkeliza]

You'll have a hit and miss for this. Any of the in door queues like Mickey, Princesses, Tink, etc you won't have the ability to use this method. There is no where to join the line. If it is an outdoor line like most in Epcot or Disney Jr then it might work but you might also have a CM tell you no unless you just sit on a near by bench or play in the shade etc. Going off to do something like other rides is kind of frowned upon.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

There was a family in the Joy and Sadness line behind us that I would have happily saved their place for them if they would have just taken their shrieking child out for a while. It wasn't a tantrum but just an ear piercing, loud as anything shriek that he let loose with every 5 minutes or so. He was a toddler so it wasn't like there was much they could do to stop him but that was a perfect situation where no one would have minded the mom and daughter holding the place in line.

In general I agree with pp that as long as people are taking pics as part of the group and don't take an excessively long time, I don't have a problem with others joining up for a character M&G.

 

[frisbeego]

For really long lines (e.g., the original Baymax/Hiro, Star Wars Weekend), my son waits outside the line and has to visually check in with me every 2-5 minutes. I've never had anyone say anything or give me a stink eye (that I saw). My son is the only one who gets his picture taken (and we don't do autographs), so I feel like there is no effect on the length of wait for the people behind me. Of course, if a CM gave us instructions, we'd follow them. In my experience, however, the CMs knew exactly what we were doing.

 

[rdominy]

We met rapunzal right after tangled came out and she was hugely popular. She was meeting in the outdoor garden area which has a capacity for each meet and greet.

The line for the meet and greet started an hour before she came out. The line was nothing but a bunch of dads. The CMs encouraged this and just went down the line asking how many people would be on the party so they could mark the line end.

I took my daughter to watch the afternoon parade while he stood in line and then joined him.

 

[Dreamport]

As others have said, this will be hit or miss, so definitely listen to the instructions of the CMs and don't count on being able to do this for Mickey, Princesses, and other indoor lines. I once waited with a friend at Disneyland to meet Rapunzel and Flynn the summer after the movie came out and, after waiting 5-10 minutes for at least a party or two to be behind us as verification we were there first, took turns to go to the bathroom/grab a small snack from a nearby cart (it was outdoors and HOT!). Many families were doing it and helping to watch spots for each other. So long as a family of your size showed up together first I certainly wouldn't mind stepping out with little ones and bringing them back in closer to the characters appearing.

 

[gatormom2tots]

A family of small children- not an issue in my eyes. We have 4 kids and with a 4 and 2 year old- potty emergencies happen no matter how much planning and pleading you do for them to go before the line. And with ones in diapers- I think you would rather me change them then smell a dirty diaper.

However, I would not allow my 9 an 11 year old to do this. They are either in the line as needed, or they miss it. I would be irritated if it was a bunch of teenagers or adults jumping in the line.

 

[DisneyChris2016]

I think it's best to join the line together as a family and then take the kids out if you need to. At least that way the people in line behind you know what they're in for. I don't think it will have any impact on their wait time, but it might make them feel better about it. Keep in mind, it's not just adults waiting. There are plenty of other little kids that will be in that line that will just feel like other people are "cutting" in front of them and it's hard for parents to have to explain to their kids how that can be "fair".

I also think the reactions you get from others will depend largely on the age and temperament of your kids. I have no problem with one parent taking toddlers out of line (for any reason) but if I see school age kids jumping in line after having an ice cream break in the shade, I might not be so happy about it. I would still never say anything to them directly, but when my kids ask why it's OK for them to do that, I wouldn't mince words when I tell them it's not.

My kids will be 11, 8 and 6 on our next trip. If they don't care enough about an attraction (whatever it is) to wait in the line, we just won't do it.

 

[CAS239]

It's an easy topic imo.

Everyone wait in line. If you have a small kid that has to use the bathroom, step out go to the bathroom then come back. No one will mind that.

There's no reason at all for one person to wait in line, get near the front then call the rest of their family and then you have 4 more people getting in the line. It's not fair to those families waiting in the line to have others riding rides and then just hop in line in front. Everyone should wait unless an emergency arrives

 

[GillianP1301]

My opinion on this is, if you want to experience the ride, show, M&G, then you wait in line and I personally think that having one parent stake out the spot in line while the other parent is off doing another attraction or whatever with the kids, is not helping those kids at all in learning about patience and waiting for something they want. Now, if you all get in line and your small child has to pee, by all means take them to the bathroom and come back, to me that is completely reasonable.

All that being said, if somebody in front of me did it, I wouldn't hiss and boo them. I would still think it's a pretty entitled thing to do, but I would keep it to myself because I don't let stuff like that get to me on vacation.

As an interesting side note/reference, our local amusement park (Canada's Wonderland) actually defines the holding of a spot in line for other people as line cutting and you can be asked to leave the park for it. I've never actually seen it enforced, but regardless it's in their "rules".

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

While waiting in line for Merida I noticed my daughter needed a diaper change. I asked the cast member if my husband could stay in line, and I could go change my daughter. She said it was fine and let us back in when we returned.